Honest Question

[webny99]

I understand I may be pushing the limits here (with starting a thread about a specific user). But I have to ask, what happened to agentsteel53? Top poster and hasn't been online for a year.

(And yes, I'm expecting this to get locked, and rightly so, hopefully after I get an answer  )

[Alps]

He decided to stop contributing to the forum.

[Alps]

I consider that half an answer 

It really isn't. People just move on sometimes.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

He's still active in roadgeeking, just not here.

[hbelkins]

If you're on Facebook and see Jake Bear active on any of the road-related groups there, that's him.

[adventurernumber1]

This is a tragic loss in forum contribution. I always thought Jake (agentsteel53) was cool, and I was surprised when he stopped posting. For some reason, I think he hated my guts, but I don't know why (or maybe I'm just crazy). 

[kphoger]

He got married right around the time he stopped visiting the forum.  When I decide to get a life every so often, you might notice, I disappear from the forum for months at a time too.  The last time I texted Jake about a thread I thought he could shed light on, he had forgotten his login information and (AFAIK) didn't bother to enquire about it.  I believe he still has his sign-making business.  We used to be friends on Facebook, but I did a deep friends list purge a while ago, and he was one of the people I axed.  He still sends me friend requests every so often, though.

[Roadgeekteen]

For some reason I always hope members who left came back. Are there any members who left for years then came back?

[MNHighwayMan]

The question this thread inspires in me is: is there not a middle ground between spending time on the Internet and dealing with everything else? Seems like people here have a dichotomy that either you must devote your life to this hobby and/or forum or "have a real life." No in-between.

[adventurernumber1]

For some reason I always hope members who left came back. Are there any members who left for years then came back?

This isn't exactly a really long time, and I never officially "left" the forum, but due to health issues (incapacitating mental illnesses being the most prominent ones), I didn't have one single post on this forum from April 3, 2015 to December 27, 2016 (which was a time period of almost 2 full years) - at the time, there was no knowing whether I would resume being an active member again here or not. Similarly, IIRC, my road video YouTube channel (type in "David Carson channel" on YouTube Search to find, but be warned that currently I have a massive backlog of unedited videos (my most recent ones) that don't have proper titles and descriptions and such yet, so they look like crap temporarily) had absolutely zero videos uploaded in the entire year of 2015 (with there being a huge gap between late 2014 and early 2016, IIRC). My intense love of roads has never gone away, but for a long time I was truly unable to function and do much of anything at all. I am glad to be back now, as I have recovered somewhat - except for a terrible downfall earlier in 2017, when my mental illnesses were exacerbated due to the later part of Junior Year of High School, which caused a brief hiccup in my posting quality (if you remember the many posts of mine that temporarily said "(-input coming-)" due to severe OCD and more). Despite usually being a terribly pessimistic person (due to Major Depression), I have the hope that all roadgeeks on hiatus from this forum and elsewhere may eventually be able to come back as a result of good circumstances (like I did). 

So with that said, whether Jake (agentsteel53) ever resumes activity on the forum or not, I wish him the best of luck with his life, and he has already made a lasting impression on this forum and the roadgeek community as a whole. If he does ever return, we will gladly welcome him back. 

[Roadgeekteen]

For some reason I always hope members who left came back. Are there any members who left for years then came back?

This isn't exactly a really long time, and I never officially "left" the forum, but due to health issues (incapacitating mental illnesses being the most prominent ones), I didn't have one single post on this forum from April 3, 2015 to December 27, 2016 (which was a time period of almost 2 full years) - at the time, there was no knowing whether I would resume being an active member again here or not. Similarly, IIRC, my road video YouTube channel (type in "David Carson channel" on YouTube Search to find, but be warned that currently I have a massive backlog of unedited videos (my most recent ones) that don't have proper titles and descriptions and such yet, so they look like crap temporarily) had absolutely zero videos uploaded in the entire year of 2015 (with there being a huge gap between late 2014 and early 2016, IIRC). My intense love of roads has never gone away, but for a long time I was truly unable to function and do much of anything at all. I am glad to be back now, as I have recovered somewhat - except for a terrible downfall earlier in 2017, when my mental illnesses were exacerbated due to the later part of Junior Year of High School, which caused a brief hiccup in my posting quality (if you remember the many posts of mine that temporarily said "(-input coming-)" due to severe OCD and more). Despite usually being a terribly pessimistic person (due to Major Depression), I have the hope that all roadgeeks on hiatus from this forum and elsewhere may eventually be able to come back as a result of good circumstances (like I did). 

So with that said, whether Jake (agentsteel53) ever resumes activity on the forum or not, I wish him the best of luck with his life, and he has already made a lasting impression on this forum and the roadgeek community as a whole. If he does ever return, we will gladly welcome him back. 

I'm glad that you are feeling better.

[adventurernumber1]

For some reason I always hope members who left came back. Are there any members who left for years then came back?

This isn't exactly a really long time, and I never officially "left" the forum, but due to health issues (incapacitating mental illnesses being the most prominent ones), I didn't have one single post on this forum from April 3, 2015 to December 27, 2016 (which was a time period of almost 2 full years) - at the time, there was no knowing whether I would resume being an active member again here or not. Similarly, IIRC, my road video YouTube channel (type in "David Carson channel" on YouTube Search to find, but be warned that currently I have a massive backlog of unedited videos (my most recent ones) that don't have proper titles and descriptions and such yet, so they look like crap temporarily) had absolutely zero videos uploaded in the entire year of 2015 (with there being a huge gap between late 2014 and early 2016, IIRC). My intense love of roads has never gone away, but for a long time I was truly unable to function and do much of anything at all. I am glad to be back now, as I have recovered somewhat - except for a terrible downfall earlier in 2017, when my mental illnesses were exacerbated due to the later part of Junior Year of High School, which caused a brief hiccup in my posting quality (if you remember the many posts of mine that temporarily said "(-input coming-)" due to severe OCD and more). Despite usually being a terribly pessimistic person (due to Major Depression), I have the hope that all roadgeeks on hiatus from this forum and elsewhere may eventually be able to come back as a result of good circumstances (like I did). 

So with that said, whether Jake (agentsteel53) ever resumes activity on the forum or not, I wish him the best of luck with his life, and he has already made a lasting impression on this forum and the roadgeek community as a whole. If he does ever return, we will gladly welcome him back. 

I'm glad that you are feeling better.

Thank you! That means a lot. I've gotten lots of help with multiple medications, lots of therapy (including both a psychiatrist and a psychologist), and a developing tireless personal will. I've still got problems, but I have been recovering from them somewhat, and enough so that I can function a lot better now and do more things again.

[Takumi]

For some reason I always hope members who left came back. Are there any members who left for years then came back?

I left for about a year, just had other things going on, but I came back. I mostly post in OT and Mid-Atlantic, though.

[roadman65]

I understand I may be pushing the limits here (with starting a thread about a specific user). But I have to ask, what happened to agentsteel53? Top poster and hasn't been online for a year.

(And yes, I'm expecting this to get locked, and rightly so, hopefully after I get an answer  )

Don't worry there have been other threads about specific users like dzlabe who had about three different threads on his behalf.  Though, 99.9 percent of the people hated his posts and attitude, still it never really got locked until that troll got on them and got into it.

On the subject, yes I do miss him even though he was critical of my posts, but it would have been interesting to hear his responses though to that Chicago Hypotenuse troll as I am sure he would have had some doozies to say.

I heard he got married and moved on as some other users have as well and even some on  gribblenation as well.

[BigRedDog]

For some reason I always hope members who left came back. Are there any members who left for years then came back?

I was away for a year or more. As others have said, life gets in the way. It's always fun to come back, though, and see what's new and changing out on the highways.

[kphoger]

The question this thread inspires in me is: is there not a middle ground between spending time on the Internet and dealing with everything else? Seems like people here have a dichotomy that either you must devote your life to this hobby and/or forum or "have a real life." No in-between.

Spending time on the internet and/or having a hobby like roadgeeking is very much doable while maintaining your other duties in life.  But large web forums like this one and another one I used to participate in have a way of sucking all the time out of your days.  I suppose it's the desire to not miss out on anyone's posts on any thread I'm halfway interested in.



Well, Jake is still definitely out there.  We texted back and forth a little bit last night, and he mentioned someone from on here had sent an email as well.  Our conversations pretty much all revolve around [1] license plate spotting or [2] trips to Mexico, as those are two topics about which we both have knowledge and interest.  I miss seeing the photos he would post from his international road trips, and I especially wish I could see the ones from his trip to Aguascalientes a year ago or so (shortly before corco did his southern Mexico road trip.  He's amazing at highway photography.

[MNHighwayMan]

The question this thread inspires in me is: is there not a middle ground between spending time on the Internet and dealing with everything else? Seems like people here have a dichotomy that either you must devote your life to this hobby and/or forum or "have a real life." No in-between.

Spending time on the internet and/or having a hobby like roadgeeking is very much doable while maintaining your other duties in life.  But large web forums like this one and another one I used to participate in have a way of sucking all the time out of your days.  I suppose it's the desire to not miss out on anyone's posts on any thread I'm halfway interested in.

I find this statement odd. First of all, I don't think of a forum with <3400 members as "large." Secondly, while I more often than not spend >one hour per day here, there are also days where I just don't visit at all, or at most make one visit of <15 minutes. I just don't quite understand how this site can become an immense time sink (no disrespect intended, at all, for the admins and heavy contributors–I just am not at that level.) Perhaps it's maybe because my interests don't really extend much beyond my home state and the state (Iowa) that I currently live in. IDK.

[kphoger]

The question this thread inspires in me is: is there not a middle ground between spending time on the Internet and dealing with everything else? Seems like people here have a dichotomy that either you must devote your life to this hobby and/or forum or "have a real life." No in-between.

Spending time on the internet and/or having a hobby like roadgeeking is very much doable while maintaining your other duties in life.  But large web forums like this one and another one I used to participate in have a way of sucking all the time out of your days.  I suppose it's the desire to not miss out on anyone's posts on any thread I'm halfway interested in.

I find this statement odd. First of all, I don't think of a forum with <3400 members as "large." Secondly, while I more often than not spend >one hour per day here, there are also days where I just don't visit at all, or at most make one visit of <15 minutes. I just don't quite understand how this site can become an immense time sink (no disrespect intended, at all, for the admins and heavy contributors–I just am not at that level.) Perhaps it's maybe because my interests don't really extend much beyond my home state and the state (Iowa) that I currently live in. IDK.

Then you are succeeding at this.  Some others of us can't seem to find a happy medium.

[Max Rockatansky]

If you're on Facebook and see Jake Bear active on any of the road-related groups there, that's him.

I want to say he's pretty active on California's Porcelain Enamel Traffic Signs if I recall correctly.  I had a couple run-ins with Jake in my early highway sign collecting days, I knew he was involved with AAroads but I wasn't really aware he was on the forum at all until recently.  Really Jake is the go to guy for stuff like questions about signage history, I've never talked to anyone else who knew as much as he did.

[Roadgeekteen]

The question this thread inspires in me is: is there not a middle ground between spending time on the Internet and dealing with everything else? Seems like people here have a dichotomy that either you must devote your life to this hobby and/or forum or "have a real life." No in-between.

Spending time on the internet and/or having a hobby like roadgeeking is very much doable while maintaining your other duties in life.  But large web forums like this one and another one I used to participate in have a way of sucking all the time out of your days.  I suppose it's the desire to not miss out on anyone's posts on any thread I'm halfway interested in.

I find this statement odd. First of all, I don't think of a forum with <3400 members as "large." Secondly, while I more often than not spend >one hour per day here, there are also days where I just don't visit at all, or at most make one visit of <15 minutes. I just don't quite understand how this site can become an immense time sink (no disrespect intended, at all, for the admins and heavy contributors–I just am not at that level.) Perhaps it's maybe because my interests don't really extend much beyond my home state and the state (Iowa) that I currently live in. IDK.

I am less knolageble about roads than many others on here. That's why many of my posts are in off topic or fictional highways.

[Scott5114]

Jake is not only a very knowledgeable guy, he's super talented, too. He drew a dragon for me once and I liked it so much I had several thousand copies printed up.



Jake and I hung out in real life one day back in...hell, I don't even remember what year, I want to say 2010 or so? But we met up in Clinton, OK and spent all day driving around SW Oklahoma and the Texas panhandle in my Chevy Cavalier clinching counties. It was a ton of fun.

He's still on Facebook and still the same old Jake. If I remember correctly, he got a US-395 tattoo at some point (if that doesn't show you that he's still into the whole roads thing I don't know what would). I saw him on there recently trolling this guy that insulted him into donating to hurricane relief efforts.

[Roadgeekteen]

Jake is not only a very knowledgeable guy, he's super talented, too. He drew a dragon for me once and I liked it so much I had several thousand copies printed up.



Jake and I hung out in real life one day back in...hell, I don't even remember what year, I want to say 2010 or so? But we met up in Clinton, OK and spent all day driving around SW Oklahoma and the Texas panhandle in my Chevy Cavalier clinching counties. It was a ton of fun.

He's still on Facebook and still the same old Jake. If I remember correctly, he got a US-395 tattoo at some point (if that doesn't show you that he's still into the whole roads thing I don't know what would). I saw him on there recently trolling this guy that insulted him into donating to hurricane relief efforts.

Jake is great at trolling.

[Roadgeekteen]

I also find that the forum, while usually interesting, saps a disproportionate amount of time.

So I think I'll stop here (not roadgeeking, just posting). That leaves you with 366 of my posts, one for each day of the year  Also, because I-366 is a long-standing joke on the forum. Works out well. 

You have far less than 366 posts.

[adventurernumber1]

I also find that the forum, while usually interesting, saps a disproportionate amount of time.

So I think I'll stop here (not roadgeeking, just posting). That leaves you with 366 of my posts, one for each day of the year  Also, because I-366 is a long-standing joke on the forum. Works out well. 

I know that I'm a certified retard, but I'll admit that I myself am incredibly confused....

     

[hbelkins]

Hey Scott -- was it you and Jake who once crossed a barbed-wire fence to visit a new county? Or was that someone else?